Improvement in pantographic-engraving machines



No. 37,177. PATENTED DEC. 16, 1862. B. L. PHILLIPS.

PANTOGRAPHIG ENGRAVING MACHINE.

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PATENTED DEC. 16, 1862.

B. L. PHILLIPS. v PANTOGRAPHIC ENGRAVING MACHINE.

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BENJAMIN L'. PHILLIPS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN PANTOGliAPHlC-ENGRAVING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,177, dated December 16, 1862.

. chines, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description, referencebein g had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in whic Figure l is a perspective view of my improved machine forengraving copper cylin-l ders; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section through the middle of the machine; Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, details to be referred to hereinafter.

My present invention consists in certain improvements in pantographic-engraving machines, which are more particularly used for engraving or tracing designs on cylinders for the use of printers on calico and other rabrics.

That others skilled in the art may understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried out the same.

"In the said drawings, A is the frame of the machine; B, a heavy beam, which extends lengthwise of the machine and supports the cylinder C, which is to be engraved, and also the frame-work which carries the diamond or graver. D is the table on which the design or pattern to be copied'is placed. The tracerpoint a, with which the operator follows the pattern, is attached to the outer end'of an arm or tongue, b, extending from a carriage,

E, which traverses lengthwise of the machine on a rail, 0, attached to a bar, F, (grooved wheels (1 on the carriage running on this rail.) A plate or-hook,'e, attached to this carriage, is bent under the bar F and prevents the carriage from being thrown off from the rail. Another carriage, G, runs on a rail on the beam H, and is held from being thrown off the rail by a hooked plate, f. A tongue, g, attached to this latter carriage, projects to ward the table D, and rests in a grooved block,-'i, on top of the carriage E. This permits the lower carriage, E, to be moved toward and from the table D independently of the carriage G, but when the tracer-point a is moved length wise of the table D, the two carriages are moved together along their rails. The bar F is attached at either end to a rail, l, which rests near one end on a grooved pulle'y, h, in a hanger, 7c, and is connected at its other end to the top of a segment, K, the edge. of which lies in a groove, 3, in'the bottom of the rail. Two wires, 4, are fastened one to each corner of the segment K and to the rail I, so that as the rails are moved back and forth (by the movement of the tracer-pointy) the segments will revolve a shaft, L, to which they are attached, and this, through the arms M, connecting-rods l, and arms N, revolves two short shafts, 0, which have their hearings in studs m on top of the beam B. The arms N are fastened to the shafts O by thumb-screws 5, so that the shafts may be turned around into a different position and the arms again be secured by tightening these screws. Each shaft 0 carries a roller, 1), the face of which is roughened. The cylinder 0 rests on these rollers 79 and on another pair, 0, and is revolved by the friction of the rollers}; on its surface;- .By the above connections the movement of the tracer-point a across thetable D gives a partial revolution to the cylinder 0. The movements of the tracer length wise of the table and of the carriages E and G along their rails are comm nnicated to the graver-carriage in the following manner: This carriage, on which one or more diamonds or gravers, r, are carried, is formed of two longitudinal pieces, P and Q, held together by cross-braces s. It rests on wheels t u, attached to brackets R on each side of the beam B, to which the brackets are secured by screws 6, passing through slots, which allow-the brackets to be raised or lowered. The wheels t, on which the piece P rests, are flat on the face, but the other pair, u, have a rounded edge, and run in 5a" groove, 7, in the lower side of the piece Q,to.g" ui dethe movements of the carriage. A second-groove, 8, inclined to the other one, as showriinFig. 3, is made'to receive these wheels, u,when the carriage is required'to move in aline inclined to the axis of the cylinder 0. Inclined ways S rise one from each end of the two pieces P and Q, and are joined in pairs, as shown in the drawings. They each have a slot, n, through which passes a screw, 9, which enters a bar, T. This permits thebar to be adjusted in different positions, higher up or lower down, on the ways. There are two of the bars, one on each to this bar U, and arewound in -oppositedirections round the head w of ajvertical shaft, V, and are attached thereto. This shaft has its bearings in' suitable brackets, and carries near its lower end a grooved pulley, W, around which two or three turns of a brasslwire, w, are taken. The wire then passes round another pulley, of the same size, at the opposite end of themachine, and back to the pulley W. Two small clamps, a a which are closed by screws, are attached to the tongue 9 of the carriage'G. The wire as is. placed in one or the other of these clamps, and its screw 'is tightened up. Thus the motions of the carriage Gr revolve the shaft V, and through the bar U move the graver-carriage, the motion of this carriage being in the same direction as that of the carriage G when the wire is attached to the clamp a ,and in the contrary direction when it is released from this clamp and is caught in the other one.

The'above-described mechanisms or methods of communicating the motions of the tracerpoint a to the cylinder 0, to revolve it beneath the graver, and to the graver carriage to move the graver over the cylinder, consider greatly superior to those employed in any other machine of this class with which I am acquainted, the connections being such that there is no lost motion or slip, which is so frequently the cause of the marks on the cylinder not corresponding nicely with the pattern traced. The inclined groove 8, on the under side of thepieceQ ofthe graver-carriage, enables the operator, by inclining the path :of this carriage to the axis of the cylinder 0, to slash his work, or iofincline the lines marked on the cylinder at an" angle to those on the pattern. This is suificient when one graver only is used, but when, a series of them is employed, a further change becomes necessary to make them all accord in the paths which they follow. This is done by changing the position of the bar F, on which the tracer-carriage E runs. it has a slot, b, at one end, which permits it to be inclined to the rails I. This produces the desired result without inclining the pattern to the base-line from which the operator works. The graver r is attached, to an arm, c which is pivoted at 20 to a plate, d, attached to the top of the bar T. The short shaft 20, to which the. arm 0 is attached, also carries a cogged segment, e ,with which engages another cogg'ed segment, f, pivoted on a short stand-' ard, 21, rising from the plate (1 An arm, g

which carries a weight, h, (which may be adjusted on the arm,) is attached to a plate, i also pivoted on the standard 21. A set-screw passes, through a curved slot in the segment f iand screws into the plate '5 by which the ,positions'' of the plate and segment with respect to each other may be varied to keep the arm 9 horizontal. The toothed faces of the segments 0 and f are eccentric to their pivots. This'eccentricity compensates for changes in the relative positions of the graver-arm c and the weighted arm it. being desirable to keep the latter arm as near level as possible, while the-position of the graver and the inclination of its arm 0 is frequently changed as the graver is worked on ditl'erent parts of the cylinder 0, or on different-sized cylinders, it being obvious that without some compensa- ,t,ion the weight of the graver-arm' and head would not influence so much the operation of the graver when the arm approached a vertical plane passing through its pivot 20 as it would when near a horizontal position. When the positionof the graver-arm c is changed, the set-screw which holds the segmentf and plate 1' together is loosened, and when the arm has been adjusted it is again tightened up. The weighted arm 9 rests on the edge of a bar, k, which is pivoted eccentrically to two lugs, 1 projecting onefrom each end of the bar T. By

rotating this bar k a short distance, the weight w k is lowered and presses the graver down onto the cylinder 0. The bar k is operated from a treadle, A through a system of levers and connectingrods, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29,

30, and 31, the bars on both sides of the cylinder beingoperated at the same time whentwo sets of gravers are in use. A spring, B draws the lever 23 down when the foot is raised from the treadle. The position ofthe graver r, with respect to the cylinder 0, or the part of the circumference of the cylinder on which it is to operate, either on top, as here shown, or farther down the side, is-adjusted by moving the bar T up or down on the inclined ways S, and also by raising or lowering the graver-carriage, by loosening the screws 6, which hold the brackets R, and movingthe brackets, care being taken to keep the graver pointed towardthe axis of the cylinder. The ways S being straight, the bar T may be moved withoutchanging its level and without afi'ecting the horizontal position of the weighted arm 9 which I consider a great advantage over the curved or segmental ways or bars heretofore used. Having the weighted arm 9 hung on'a. separate-pivot from that on which the graver-arm t vibrates permits the adjustment of the latter arm without disturbing the position of the weight, as before described. The grounding, as it is termed, or filling in'portions of the design with lines drawn parallel to each other, and generally inclined at a certain angle to the pattern, constitutes a considerable portion of the labor of copyin g. To facilitate this work I connect the two carriages F and G by bands or wires passing round pulleys of different diameters, so that as the operator moves the tracer-point it across the pattern these two carriages will assume such a relative speed, one tothe other, that a line at the required angle will be producecLon the cylinder 0; and in connection with this I have arranged an automatic feed, which places these lines at an equal and required distance apart. A vertical shaft, D has its bearings in the frame A, and carries a grooved pulley, E which is loose on the Shaft, and one of less diameter, G the rela tive size of these pulleys governing the angle at which the groundinglines will be drawn. A wire, n is attached to the pulley E and after making two or three turns around it passes over another pulley, F, of same diameter, 'at the opposite end of the machine, and back to the pulley E to which it is fastened. A screw-clamp, 0 on the carriage G, is made to hold this wire when this mechanism is to be brought into use; at other times it is left free. A wire, r (shown dotted in Fig. 2,) attached to the outer end of one of the rails I, is passed round the smaller pulley, G", and. is again fastened to the rail. From this connection the movements of thecarriage G along the beam H comm unicate a transverse motion to the carriage E, but at a slower rate, and a diagonal line is drawn upon the cylinder 0, the operator not being compelled to guide the tracenpoint, but only to move it across the pattern. The lower pulley, G is secured to the shaft -D by a set-screw, p, which may be loosened and the pulley revolve without the shaft, so as not to interfere with the movements of the rail I when the grounding or lining device is not beingemployed. A disk, H notched around itsperiphery, as shown detached in Fig. 5, is secured to the shaft D Two pawls, s m, are pivoted to the top of the pulley E and are held in contact with the edge of the disk by a spring, l An arm, 1 is attached to the shaft D by being pressed down onto a shoulder by a frictionnut, 01 which screws onto the head of the shaft and presses the head of an arm, m at;

tachedto the frame A, onto the arm I, and prevents this arm from being carried round with the shaft, except when it is moved by two pins, 3, which rise from the pulley E This arm I has a cam, 10 formed on it, which lifts the pawl s as the pulley E is revolved in-the direction of the arrow 4 by the move ment of the carriage G in the direction of the arrow 6, Fig. 1, and holds this pawl clear of the disk until the return-movement of the car riage carries the pulley back far enough for the pawl 24 to drop in the next notch. Thus the pulley E is permitted to slip roundon the shaft D at each traverse of the carriage Gr an amount equal to the space between the notches on the disk, without moving the pulley G or the carriage E, consequently the next forward movementof the carriage G will make the next line at a short distance from and parallel with the last. To change the spaces between the lines, the disk Hmay be changed or the pins 3 may be moved to allow the pawls to take two notches at a time. Another part of the labor of tracing which I propose to economize is where the same figuresuch as a leaf or circle-occurs frequently in the pattern, I employ a templet, of sheet-zinc or other suitable material, which I lay on the pattern in line with the figure which has just been copied, and with a supplementary tracing-point, a on an arm, I), whichextends across the end of the tongue I), I follow the outline of the templet much more rapidly than the figure could be again traced from the pattern with the tracer-point a.

I am aware of the Letters Patent granted to John and Thomas Hope, assignees of John Hope, dated March 9, 1858, in which a supplementary wedge-shaped tracer-point was guided in grooves cut in a board to assist the copyist in grounding his figures; but my idea goes further in enabling him to copy the outlines rapidly or to repeat the figures. I am also aware that templets have been used with the single or main tracer-point a, the templet being placed immediately over the figure on the pattern, which prevented the operator from seeing his pattern and from detecting and correcting errors by watching his pattern, as my arrangement enables him to do. To i'acilitate arranging the templets in line with the same figure on the pattern, I have a point to designate the center. of the figure, and when the tracer-point a is placed on the center of the figure in the pattern or on the, mark made by the ternplet where last laid down, and the other point, a is placed on the center of the templet, I know that it is in line with the last figure made. The handle c bears and i'novesupon thetable or pat tern and serves to steady the arm. The tracerpoint a is also adjusted to bear upon the table,

and has its point rounded to prevent its catching in the pattern. The .several pulleys to which the wire or hands are attachedsuch as W E Gi -are, as before stated, cut with inclined gr oves, like a fine screwthread, for the wires to lie in. This I consider essential when several turns of the wire are passed round the pulley to prevent one turn of the wire riding over another, and I take these several turns, .as by so doing I can reduce the sizeof the pulley and still have length enough of wire to allow the traverse of' the carriage, to which it may be connected for the whole length of the machine. v

The operation of this machine is as follows: The pattern to be traced onto the cylinder 0 is secured to the table 1), and the operator follows the lines ot'the pattern with the tracerpoint a. All the lines and curves which the tracer point may pass over are embraced within two movements or. lines at right angles to each other on the table. One of these movements of the tracer-point--viz. back and forth across the table, or in line with the tongue I)- revolves the cylinder 0 on its axis through the following connections: As the-carriage E is moved toward and from the table I) it carries with it the bar F and rails I. These bars being connected by the wires etto the. segments K, the shaft L is revolved a part turn in one direction or the other. The arms M, attached to the shaft L, are connected by the rodsl with the arms N, secured to the short shafts O,

and the movements of the shaft L are thus transmitted to these shafts, which carry the friction-rollers 1) on which the roll G rests. The movements of the tracer-pointlengthwise of the table or acrossthe front of the machine cause the carriage G to move along on its rail on the beam H, .(the carriage E being connected, of course, follows it.) The wire as being attached to the tongue of the carriage either at a or at a (according. as it is desired to have the graver move in the same direction with the tracer or counter to it the pulley W is revolved, and through the attachment of the bands '0' on the head of the shaft V and the bar U the grayer-carriage is moved longitudinaily along the cylinder 0, the graver r tracing lines which accord with those on the pattern on the table D.

. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the graver-point 'r is raised from the surface of the cylinder 0, but when the operator commences to trace the pattern he presses his foot on the treadle A when, through the connections 23, 24, 25, 26, 2 7, 28, 29, 30, and 3i, the eccentricrod It is turned down, which lowers the weight h revolves the cogsegments f 2 c and lowers the graver-point r onto the cylinder. When it is desired to slash the work or to give to the lines produced by thegraver-point a different inclination from those on the pattern, the graven carriage islifted up and the wheel u is entered in the inclined groove 8 in the bar Q of this carriage; or when a series of graverpoints are in use, and they all have to accord in their movements, the bar F, on which the tracerearriage E runs, is inclined by moving one end of it along on one of the rails 1,the screw and slot 1) permitting this. When it is required to change the position of the graverpoint 1" higher or lower on the cylinder 0, or to suit a cylinder of greater or less diameter, the bar T is raised or lowered on the inclined ways S, and the whole graver-frame is raised or lowered by moving the brackets R.

As before stated, the relative speed of the two carriages, G and E, the former along its beam H,- and the latter toward and from the said beam, is changed to produce the inclined lines for ground-work, by connecting the carriage G at 0 to the wire n over the large pulley H and by connecting the rail 1, which is moved by the carriage E, to a pulley, G, of a different diameter, and these two carriages, controlling, as they do, the revolutions of the cylinder 0 and the traverse of the gravercarriage, will, by thus changing the speed of i the graver-carriage relative to the speed with which the cylinder 0 is revolved, cause the graver 1' to produce a line on the cylinder at a different inclination from the line followed by the tracer'point. For example, if the tracer-point a is moved in a straight line across'the table D, moving the'carriage E to ward or from the table, the carriage G will move along the beam 11 at a difl'erent rate, proportionate to the di'fterent diameters of the two pulleys, G2 H, and the graver-carriage will move along over the cylinder (3 at a different rate from that at which the cylinder is revolved.

The manner of using the supplementary tracing-point a has been fully explained, as well as the automatic feed connected with the pulley B.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of communicating the motions of the tracer-point at and carriage E to the cylinder 0, substantially as described.

2. Supporting the bars T on fixed inclined ways S, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A compensating connection between the weighted arm 9 and graver-arm c substantially as described.

' 4. Pivoting the weighted arm 9 at a different point from that at which the graver-arm is pivoted, that they may be moved separately, substantially as described.

5. The inclined groove 8, for guiding the graver-carriage, substantially as described.

6. Inclinin g thebar F, for the purpose specified.

7 Changing the relative speed with which the cylinder 0 is revolved and the gravcn carriage is moved along the cylinder,b'y connecting the carriages E and G with pulleys of different size, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth. 8. The automatic feed connected with the pulley E for regulating the spaces between the grounding-lines, substantially as described.

' 9. The employment of screw-scored pulleys, such as W E G on a pantographic-engraving machine, for the purpose specified.

10. The employmeilt of templets cut out to the form of any figure which is to be repeated, in combination with a supplementary tracingpoint, a, to be used substantially as set forth.

11. Reversing the motions of the gravercarriage by clamping the wire 4 to the carriage G, either at a or at a BENJ. L. PHILLIPS.

Witnesses":

THos. R. ROACH, P. E. TESCHEMACHER. 

